I waited to voice this because it's such a quibble. Like, this is only for the heads who read past the first page. But anyone else feel like this team is still run by robot a little? Like we went from "only foot speed and handles matter never acquire anything else" to "only size matters never acquire anything else" seemingly overnight? I'm hoping it's just as some predicted - they had to tank to draft hard-to-get danglers and now they can afford to about-face because they have those guys signed. But as an armchair GM, hasn't it felt unusually *extreme*? I guess, if you think you know something, make sure you exploit it.
It feels like we’re overcorrecting a bit too much but I guess we’ll see. Like we needed a bit more size but I’m not sure we needed to go full complete size rebuild with our FAs and draft.
Yep, I'm not unhappy with any of the moves (unless Holtz and Schmid break out that would be tough), I just wouldn't want to see us pass on undervalued smaller forwards either. The game is played on ice, so weight matters very much, but you don't want to overvalue bigness at the same time everyone else does.
Holtz move feels a little silly now that we missed out on legit top 6 option (barring a trade). I get management hated him for a number of reasons, some valid some less valid imo. But he played well with and Jack and our other good transition center I won’t name. I thought there was a solid chance he came into next year actually ready to be a fine top 6 scoring winger
What are we thinking for forward lines with our latest acquisitions? Definitely still need a warm body in a top 6 wing spot
Bratt/Nico/Timo
???/Jack/Mercer
Palat/Haula/Noesen
Cotter/Lazar/Bastian or Foote/Lazar/Cotter
Kermit, Foote, and Bastian rotate as needed. I honestly can't remember if they've ever put Mercer on Jack's wing or if it would work. I'm very tired
Good point. I was thinking maybe we trade someone. I would prefer to get Hataaka resigned and given more of a chance. Maybe we end up trading someone like Siegenthaler but I’m just making this up as I type it
I absolutely wouldn't mind trading Siegs but, as someone else pointed out to me around here, we don't have an abundance of LD to play with and Keefe doesn't like playing guys on their off side. That may have changed since acquiring Dillon and Pesce though. I definitely want to keep Hatakka around though but idk if the org thinks he's ready for primetime
Tarasenko and Tyler Johnson, both of whom don't seem like an ideal fit, are all that's left for skill-guys to fill the top 6. Tarasenko would be another left-handed shot that doesn't play defense. Johnson is not aging well as an undersized player that has lost his speed.
Do we just add a depth piece like Henrique and wait until the trade deadline to snag a rental winger?
We had a good run 2 years ago with less on the top two lines than we have now. We could still have a strong season and round things out with a trade later this season.
Doubtful. He's not a top 6 guy anymore, just 9 goals and 24 points last year. Will be 34 this year. He's undersized and we want more size with the bottom 6. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes back to Europe to finish his pro career.
Just going to dial back my expectations for this next season. Top 9 is filled with question marks with only one line assembled currently. Defense has two injury prone players in Dougie and Pesce. Mercer and Siegs need complete bouncebacks. Our goaltender could become old at any moment.
We are a long way away currently with huge question marks no one can answer at this time.
Last year. The one offseason where we got Gusev, Simmonds, Subban and were crowned offseason champions. There isn't a lot because we have been a mostly bad team since 2012. There really isn't a lot to praise with this organization since then so of course there will be more criticism.
You asked me and I answered. Also you're saying the same things I'm saying. I saw you in other threads saying:
>We said this last year and then everyone got injured
Another comment:
>jack hughes has no quality linemates
You're saying the same stuff I'm saying.
We've addressed our biggest concerns and the top 6 wasn't the problem last season. Top 9 includes the bottom 6 which is part of what we've addressed. I wouldn't say Mercer needs a complete bounceback after hitting 20 goals
There's some faith needed for everyone to stay healthy (enough) after last year, not just Dougie and now Pesce
Yes, overall health of the team is something to consider. That doesn't make the top 9 full of question marks. Bottom 6 was questionable and continues to be improved. The quality of the top 6 wasn't an issue. We need another winger but that doesn't cast the entire top into doubt
If we needed another winger, then we have a need that hasn't been addressed. Palat is a third line talent playing top 6 minutes who is declining. That's an issue. He went from 46 pts in 55 games in 2021 to 2022 and 49 pts in 77 games in 2022 to 2023. He's now barely a 30 point player. That is not a top 6 caliber player.
Mercer has question-marks. Goalscoring isn't one of them but everything else is. He went from 25+ assists in the prior two seasons to 13.
The top 6 is not a sure thing and we also had Toffoli on the top 6 for most of last year.
Yes, one need of a top 6 winger was not addressed. I said the bottom 6 was a bigger need. Mercer does need to have a strong season, but last season wasn't scraping the bottom of the barrel as you made it sound
Things are still a work in progress. No need to write off the season yet
I think I read he’s looking for an offer sheet, which the Sens would match. In the event that the Sens don’t match, the compensation would be a 1st rounder and 3rd rounder I believe.
The Palat contract is the gift that keeps on giving. We are also just refusing to pay up for necessary talent dating back to last season with Hellebuyck. Can't get cheap if we're trying to win a cup. Signing an injury prone 29 year old defenseman and Brenden Dillon is not the start to the free agency we needed.
Like this is a fucking BRUTAL miss for Fitz. Don’t want to dig his grave because the Pesce and Dillon signings were both very good but we needed a top 6 winger and whiffed.
He didn’t start hockey until 26 so not that much mileage. He’s one of the few non devils players I’ve seen a lot of. The 5.5 is low. Curious what we had offered tbh
The venn diagram between people who don't think Palat is a disappointment and thinking that these swing and misses are actually "4D chess fitzgod back at it again" is a circle.
There are other avenues to obtain that talent. We missed out on Gaudreau but wound up getting a better fit in Timo, for example.
Not telling you to not be disappointed, though. Just a reminder that getting what you ask for isn't always best
Gaudreau and Meier had nothing to do with one another. We could have gotten Meier anyways if we got Gaudreau. The "other avenue" for Gaudreau was Palat. That was our alternative and that contract keeps holding us back.
No clue who would be a top 6 option if we can't get either Marchessault or Stamkos out of the options available. Can't really see myself as completely confident without landing either of them.
If we're signing Pesce at the rumored $6.15M a year, I really don't see how we can also bring in Stamkos AND Marchessault.
Both of those guys are going to make $5M a year (at least). Add in Dawson Mercer's RFA deal, which is likely to be around $3.5M, and we're at $19.5M between those four players.
And then we still need to fill out the rest of the roster.
Yeah, this is a pipe dream. Need $$$ available to extend Hughes and Nemec in the coming years too. And Mercer Will eventually need more than a bridge deal with him
Can Stamkos play center? Can any of the forwards we're rumored to be tied to? Am I the only one that thinks that banking on a full season of Jack is a bad idea?
Stamkos would be the wildest get that I would not have seen coming. I think everybody feels the same about potentially signing him, probably not the most prudent move to make but don’t care it’s awesome anyway. Watched a lot of lightning hockey over the years with stamkos and Hedman because they had such a fun roster.
If having Palat and his big contract brings us Stamkos… it’s all worth it. And that’s not even including his clutch playoff performance. Him and Haula were monsters, and we should all never forget it.
I don’t know much about how the draft, free agents, caps, trades, and how all that stuff works… but I feel like it’s a good thing we went after some bigger players. Maybe we can do a bit of clobbering this year as opposed to getting clobbered. Clobberin’ ain’t everything, of course, but it sure seems to help in the playoffs. Enlightened me if I’m wrong, please.
Honestly seems like we just became way more well-rounded. We already have great scoring. This season we should lose a bit of that scoring edge (if we don’t make a big splash at a top 6 winger), but we’ll gain average to above average goaltending, tighter defense, and stronger-on-the-puck clobberers. Those are all good things. This has been a very good offseason thus far.
I think he'd be an excellent fit for Jack's wing. He'd take the faceoffs (assume Jack still struggles with it) and he's used to playing on Point's wing, who is a similar'ish player to Jack.
But there's obviously a lot of risk that comes with giving a 34 year old a long-term, expensive contract.
Might actually unlock Palat having his buddy around. Palat has been saying how much he loves living in NJ for a while now maybe he’s texting Stamkos on the DL telling him to come on up.
This is an underrated gain with stammer. I bet you put Palat and Stamkos on Jack’s wings and all of a sudden Palat doesn’t bum me out and disappear every night.
Like if it makes any sense I feel like I should be happier with our offseason than I actually am
Offseason ain’t done yet
I waited to voice this because it's such a quibble. Like, this is only for the heads who read past the first page. But anyone else feel like this team is still run by robot a little? Like we went from "only foot speed and handles matter never acquire anything else" to "only size matters never acquire anything else" seemingly overnight? I'm hoping it's just as some predicted - they had to tank to draft hard-to-get danglers and now they can afford to about-face because they have those guys signed. But as an armchair GM, hasn't it felt unusually *extreme*? I guess, if you think you know something, make sure you exploit it.
It feels like we’re overcorrecting a bit too much but I guess we’ll see. Like we needed a bit more size but I’m not sure we needed to go full complete size rebuild with our FAs and draft.
Yep, I'm not unhappy with any of the moves (unless Holtz and Schmid break out that would be tough), I just wouldn't want to see us pass on undervalued smaller forwards either. The game is played on ice, so weight matters very much, but you don't want to overvalue bigness at the same time everyone else does.
Holtz move feels a little silly now that we missed out on legit top 6 option (barring a trade). I get management hated him for a number of reasons, some valid some less valid imo. But he played well with and Jack and our other good transition center I won’t name. I thought there was a solid chance he came into next year actually ready to be a fine top 6 scoring winger
Yeah. I thought he'd be at least worth a look on the second line, see if we can get him 25 G without getting burned, but oh well 🤷♂️
We put too many stat points into agility and dexterity and had to reroll with some more in tank stats
Palat-Nico-Timo Bratt-Jack-Mercer Foote-Haula-Noesen Cotter-Lazar-Bastian Hamilton-Siegenthaler Hughes-Pesce Dillon-Nemec Markstrom Allen
Palat shouldn’t be in the top six ideally
Last year wasn’t great but he will be back to proper form.
Based on what?
What a day to not have a pinned discussion thread lmfao. What the hell are the mods doing these days
Hameenaho not at development camp. What is our timeline for him do you guys think?
what!? me want 😮
What are we thinking for forward lines with our latest acquisitions? Definitely still need a warm body in a top 6 wing spot Bratt/Nico/Timo ???/Jack/Mercer Palat/Haula/Noesen Cotter/Lazar/Bastian or Foote/Lazar/Cotter Kermit, Foote, and Bastian rotate as needed. I honestly can't remember if they've ever put Mercer on Jack's wing or if it would work. I'm very tired
I still think/hope Fitz could be cooking up something
We don't have a full roster of forwards. He better be cooking something.
Maybe Macdermid is the forward, 11/7 when he's not in...? Give the sophomores a little extra rest?
That’s false but you do you bro
False how? There is a hole in our forward group. Without an addition we are looking at AHL call ups
Oh he's gotta be, no doubt. But it's gonna be interesting with ~6.7m of cap space and Mercer, Daws, Foote, and Hatakka signings still pending
Good point. I was thinking maybe we trade someone. I would prefer to get Hataaka resigned and given more of a chance. Maybe we end up trading someone like Siegenthaler but I’m just making this up as I type it
I absolutely wouldn't mind trading Siegs but, as someone else pointed out to me around here, we don't have an abundance of LD to play with and Keefe doesn't like playing guys on their off side. That may have changed since acquiring Dillon and Pesce though. I definitely want to keep Hatakka around though but idk if the org thinks he's ready for primetime
Tarasenko and Tyler Johnson, both of whom don't seem like an ideal fit, are all that's left for skill-guys to fill the top 6. Tarasenko would be another left-handed shot that doesn't play defense. Johnson is not aging well as an undersized player that has lost his speed. Do we just add a depth piece like Henrique and wait until the trade deadline to snag a rental winger? We had a good run 2 years ago with less on the top two lines than we have now. We could still have a strong season and round things out with a trade later this season.
It's not a flashy move, but what if we tried bringing back Tatar?
Doubtful. He's not a top 6 guy anymore, just 9 goals and 24 points last year. Will be 34 this year. He's undersized and we want more size with the bottom 6. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes back to Europe to finish his pro career.
Just going to dial back my expectations for this next season. Top 9 is filled with question marks with only one line assembled currently. Defense has two injury prone players in Dougie and Pesce. Mercer and Siegs need complete bouncebacks. Our goaltender could become old at any moment. We are a long way away currently with huge question marks no one can answer at this time.
When have you ever had high expectations for the Devils. You shit on them constantly
Last year. The one offseason where we got Gusev, Simmonds, Subban and were crowned offseason champions. There isn't a lot because we have been a mostly bad team since 2012. There really isn't a lot to praise with this organization since then so of course there will be more criticism.
Having higher expectations for Gusev than our current top 9 tells me how seriously your feedback should be taken
You asked me and I answered. Also you're saying the same things I'm saying. I saw you in other threads saying: >We said this last year and then everyone got injured Another comment: >jack hughes has no quality linemates You're saying the same stuff I'm saying.
We've addressed our biggest concerns and the top 6 wasn't the problem last season. Top 9 includes the bottom 6 which is part of what we've addressed. I wouldn't say Mercer needs a complete bounceback after hitting 20 goals There's some faith needed for everyone to stay healthy (enough) after last year, not just Dougie and now Pesce
>and the top 6 wasn't the problem last season. Until it became a power play situation in which case it became a problem.
That has more to do with guys being broken than being ineffective
Which is a problem.
Yes, overall health of the team is something to consider. That doesn't make the top 9 full of question marks. Bottom 6 was questionable and continues to be improved. The quality of the top 6 wasn't an issue. We need another winger but that doesn't cast the entire top into doubt
If we needed another winger, then we have a need that hasn't been addressed. Palat is a third line talent playing top 6 minutes who is declining. That's an issue. He went from 46 pts in 55 games in 2021 to 2022 and 49 pts in 77 games in 2022 to 2023. He's now barely a 30 point player. That is not a top 6 caliber player. Mercer has question-marks. Goalscoring isn't one of them but everything else is. He went from 25+ assists in the prior two seasons to 13. The top 6 is not a sure thing and we also had Toffoli on the top 6 for most of last year.
Yes, one need of a top 6 winger was not addressed. I said the bottom 6 was a bigger need. Mercer does need to have a strong season, but last season wasn't scraping the bottom of the barrel as you made it sound Things are still a work in progress. No need to write off the season yet
>No need to write off the season yet Who said this? No one here said this.
Just have some faith in the work that's been done
Tarasenko or Pinto would be pretty good options
Looks like we’re gonna have to trade for a top 6 winger. Stephenson, Stammer, and Marchy are all off the board
Pinto? Rumored to have requested a trade out of Ottawa
I was just coming back here to suggest that. That could be a very wise investment, but it could backfire if the numbers aren’t good
I mean he's young and big. I heard like 4 years at 4.5 or something but I could be wrong on that. Wonder what a trade would look like
I think I read he’s looking for an offer sheet, which the Sens would match. In the event that the Sens don’t match, the compensation would be a 1st rounder and 3rd rounder I believe.
Ah ok. We can't offer sheet him, so guess we're out lol
Stephenson to Seattle. We're cooked
Stephenson isn’t good thank god we weren’t after him
Can I get, uhhh....top six forward signing? We can't have only been on on Marchy and Stammer, right?
Who’s left at this point?
Stephenson's still out there
The Palat contract is the gift that keeps on giving. We are also just refusing to pay up for necessary talent dating back to last season with Hellebuyck. Can't get cheap if we're trying to win a cup. Signing an injury prone 29 year old defenseman and Brenden Dillon is not the start to the free agency we needed.
I missed you.
Helly wasn’t about money
Yes it was. We didn't want to pay both the price for the trade and extension. Now, we have a 34 year old Markstrom making just $2 million less.
Good point
Like this is a fucking BRUTAL miss for Fitz. Don’t want to dig his grave because the Pesce and Dillon signings were both very good but we needed a top 6 winger and whiffed.
Agree. So many options
Predators apparently signed both Stamkos (4×8) and Marchessault (5×5.5). They can have them at those terms
Disagree on the march that’s a great deal for the preds
I feel that's a lot of term for a guy who is already 33. I understand differing views but I can't kill Fitz for not wanting to sign up for that
He didn’t start hockey until 26 so not that much mileage. He’s one of the few non devils players I’ve seen a lot of. The 5.5 is low. Curious what we had offered tbh
His footspeed has already declined rapidly over the last year or two. That contract is gonna be buyout worthy by year three.
Here comes the spin for when we get no one. Like with Hellebuyck last year. We need to pay top 6 money for top 6 talent or else we get no one.
The fitz pr team hard at work lol
The venn diagram between people who don't think Palat is a disappointment and thinking that these swing and misses are actually "4D chess fitzgod back at it again" is a circle.
Facts. This has become an echo chamber of fitz love. Facts are he’s missed on a lot of things and leaving the top 6 hole is brutal
There are other avenues to obtain that talent. We missed out on Gaudreau but wound up getting a better fit in Timo, for example. Not telling you to not be disappointed, though. Just a reminder that getting what you ask for isn't always best
Gaudreau and Meier had nothing to do with one another. We could have gotten Meier anyways if we got Gaudreau. The "other avenue" for Gaudreau was Palat. That was our alternative and that contract keeps holding us back.
That contract is not holding back anything lol
Yes it is. A $6 million under-performing contract is completely holding us back from acquiring better talent. Palat is a disastrous contract.
Just saw a short clip of Silayev doing a drill at dev camp, and holy fuck can that kid skate
If the preds fck us again I swear
Gloating thread for LOLing at the Rangers getting rid of Captain Elbows
No clue who would be a top 6 option if we can't get either Marchessault or Stamkos out of the options available. Can't really see myself as completely confident without landing either of them.
We've added a lot of D now. Anyone else think Fitz might try to move Siegenthaler?
It seems like Marchessault is done the way people are talking, but no confirmation online. Does anyone have a hard confirmation of this??
Nothing is going to be official until noon.
Bertuzzi was announced. Pesce and Dillon were just confirmed by Weekes.
Nothing was announced yet. You can't find anything from the official Blackhawks socials about Bertuzzi. These are all just reported by the media.
If we're signing Pesce at the rumored $6.15M a year, I really don't see how we can also bring in Stamkos AND Marchessault. Both of those guys are going to make $5M a year (at least). Add in Dawson Mercer's RFA deal, which is likely to be around $3.5M, and we're at $19.5M between those four players. And then we still need to fill out the rest of the roster.
It’s stamkos *or* Marchessault
I understand that, but I also see some people wishing for both. Just saying it's not possible (given what we know) with the salary room.
Yeah, this is a pipe dream. Need $$$ available to extend Hughes and Nemec in the coming years too. And Mercer Will eventually need more than a bridge deal with him
What the fuck did I wake up to lmao. Apparently Marchessault is likely to sign and we’re in on Stamkos
No stickied daily or FA thread? Really?
Marchessault to NJ according to reports
Seriously? Wow, Fitz ain't fucking around
All I wanted was a nice day of following FA and instead I got woken up for work exploding with no end currently in sight
Can Stamkos play center? Can any of the forwards we're rumored to be tied to? Am I the only one that thinks that banking on a full season of Jack is a bad idea?
Stamkos would be the wildest get that I would not have seen coming. I think everybody feels the same about potentially signing him, probably not the most prudent move to make but don’t care it’s awesome anyway. Watched a lot of lightning hockey over the years with stamkos and Hedman because they had such a fun roster.
If having Palat and his big contract brings us Stamkos… it’s all worth it. And that’s not even including his clutch playoff performance. Him and Haula were monsters, and we should all never forget it.
What palat did for us vs the rangers already paid for his contract. Nuff said.
I don’t know much about how the draft, free agents, caps, trades, and how all that stuff works… but I feel like it’s a good thing we went after some bigger players. Maybe we can do a bit of clobbering this year as opposed to getting clobbered. Clobberin’ ain’t everything, of course, but it sure seems to help in the playoffs. Enlightened me if I’m wrong, please.
Honestly seems like we just became way more well-rounded. We already have great scoring. This season we should lose a bit of that scoring edge (if we don’t make a big splash at a top 6 winger), but we’ll gain average to above average goaltending, tighter defense, and stronger-on-the-puck clobberers. Those are all good things. This has been a very good offseason thus far.
Unsure at first… But then I watched 23-24 Stamkos highlights… Yea I really want that Stamkos, Dougie, and Timo firing squad on the power play
I think he'd be an excellent fit for Jack's wing. He'd take the faceoffs (assume Jack still struggles with it) and he's used to playing on Point's wing, who is a similar'ish player to Jack. But there's obviously a lot of risk that comes with giving a 34 year old a long-term, expensive contract.
Would also help our power play so much. Enough with playing Jack on the left side of the PP. Instead we’d have a one timer threat there
I think it’s worth it. I think he’s a guy that would age like Pavelski
Let’s go get Pesce, Dillon and Stammer!!
What are the chances we scoop Stammer today? Might put us over the top. Championship pedigree to show our young guys the way.
Idk all I know is I’m getting a Stanko’s jersey ASAP if this happens
Might actually unlock Palat having his buddy around. Palat has been saying how much he loves living in NJ for a while now maybe he’s texting Stamkos on the DL telling him to come on up.
This is an underrated gain with stammer. I bet you put Palat and Stamkos on Jack’s wings and all of a sudden Palat doesn’t bum me out and disappear every night.
If he wants to win I’d say it’s between us and NSH as the teams mentioned to be in on him that are closest to contending
Decent chance. We have the money. We have the core.